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Ban on ‘surprise’ medical bills on track for Jan. 1 rollout
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is putting final touches on long-sought consumer protections against so-called “surprise” medical bills. The ban on charges that hit insured patients at some of life’s most vulnerable moments is on track to take effect Jan. 1. Patients will no longer have to worry about getting a huge bill following a medical crisis if the closest hospital emergency room happened to have been outside their insurance plan’s provider network. They’ll also be protected from unexpected charges if an out-of-network clinician takes part in a surgery or procedure conducted at an in-network hospital.

(Photo provide by US Army Corps of Engineers)

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) 100 years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District opened Emsworth Locks and Dam located along the Ohio River in Emsworth, Pennsylvania, and placed it into operation.

“Emsworth Locks and Dam is a critical part of our nation’s navigation infrastructure as it maintains the navigation pool for the Port of Pittsburgh,” said Col. Adam Czekanski, commander, Pittsburgh District. “This not only creates the beautiful vista of the city from Point State Park, but it is also instrumental to the regional economy.”

The Emsworth locks are the oldest on the Ohio River system. Construction began in 1919 and the lock opened in 1921. The dam, which replaced three wicket-type locks that had been operating since 1877, improved navigation in the Pittsburgh area by stabilizing the local water level and enabling commercial industry to transport coal and other commodities by river year-round.

The facility was initially constructed as a fixed-crest dam, which spanned the river’s width to maintain a channel depth necessary for large navigational vessels. In the late 1930s, the corps converted the dam to a gated structure. The gated-structure design raised the pool above the dam by seven feet to accommodate modern barges.

In the early 1980s, the corps invested roughly $30 million to perform major rehabilitation on the facility. The rehabilitation included replacing electrical systems, buildings, operational machinery and resurfacing the lock walls.

In 2020, the corps dewatered the primary lock chamber to inspect the chamber’s interior walls and perform maintenance work not possible during normal operations. Local government officials and media were invited to tour the dewatered chamber and walk along the Ohio riverbed.

Emsworth Locks and Dam affords $228 million to the economy annually by providing a more cost-effective alternative to costlier shipping methods, such as trucks and railroads.

Today, the facility averages almost 500 commercial lockages per month and an additional 350-400 lockages during summer months for recreational boats.

Emsworth is one of 23 navigation locks and dams on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers operated by the Pittsburgh District. Pittsburgh District’s 26,000 square miles include portions of western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, western Maryland, and southwestern New York. The district also manages 16 multi-purpose flood-control reservoirs, 42 local flood-protection projects, and other missions across 328 miles of navigable waterways to protect and enhance the nation’s water-resource infrastructure and environment.

The Rolling Stones will be holding a COVID-19 vaccine clinic before Monday night’s concert at Heinz Field.

Parking lots will open for tailgating at 3:30 p.m. on Monday.

The vaccine clinic will open at 5:30 p.m., the same time the gates will open.

First doses of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccine will be available, and booster doses of Pfizer’s vaccine will be available for those who meet the CDC’s eligibility guidelines.

Growing GOP governor’s field puts nomination ‘up for grabs’
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The big field of Republicans running for Pennsylvania governor is increasingly unsettled, with more candidates joining it. Perhaps the most-asked question among Republican insiders is whether Jake Corman, the ranking state senator, will run for governor. Corman is suggesting that, if he does run, he won’t talk about it until after the Nov. 2 municipal election. In September, three more candidates, all from suburban Philadelphia, have said they are running. The latest is Dave White, who runs a large plumbing and HVAC firm in Delaware County. Arnold McClure, the Republican Party chairman in Huntingdon County, says the nomination is up for grabs. The primary election is in May.

Congress moves to avert partial government shutdown
By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is moving to avert one crisis while putting off another. The Senate is poised to approve legislation Thursday that would keep the federal government running into early December. The House is also expected to approve the measure following the Senate vote, preventing a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Friday. Democrats were forced to remove a suspension of the federal government’s borrowing limit from the bill at the insistence of Republicans. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that if the debt limit isn’t raised by Oct. 18, the country would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession.